Corvara

Giro d’Italia

Whenever the Treasury Secretary gives the green light for another trip into the high mountains, I think ‘Giro d’Italia’.

To be more precise: I first think of the Dolomites in the northeast, nearly equally shared between the provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino.

Just looking at the pictures and profiles of the climbs there, does make my heart beat faster.

Obviously, I do not mind wandering off in the Ortler Alps to the west of the Dolomites, if only for the Gavia, Mortirolo and the not any less attractive Bormio end of the Stelvio.

But, as much as I like the area around Bormio, it pales in comparison to that of the Sella group, which may be considered the heart of the Dolomites.

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Giro d’Italia 2015 – The Stats

Giro 2015 VeloviewerAlmost a week has passed since my final ride in Switzerland and I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that my Giro d’Italia 2015 is over and that it’s mostly going to be the flats of my backyard again as far as riding zee baik is concerned.

Oh well, we had an unforgettable time in Italy and Switzerland once more and collected enough memories during those rides to last for months.

Despite the current heatwave – the temperature is expected to rise to a healthy 40 degrees Celsius – the wind is continuing to do its best to make the efforts of my rides resemble climbing up another mountain.

The only difference with (most of) the wind I endured during my Giro, is that it’s not freezing cold – it’s more like a mistral, which is really not any better…

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Giro d’Italia 2015 – Countdown

Yes, I am completely bonkers and yes, I do know that UCI’s Giro d’Italia has finished.

And I have enjoyed watching that very much, with Contador’s comeback on the Mortirolo probably being the most exciting hour of an overall eventful race.

However, that was just to warm me up for my own Giro d’Italia 2015, which will obviously be even more epic and I am counting down the days left to the start…

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Giro d’Italia 2015 – Corvara

The Stages Part 1: Corvara

Alta Badia Welcome SignMay is “Bike Month” according to several (overseas) organizations like the League of American Bicyclists.

I’ve also joined Team Slackers in the National Bike Challenge – I don’t see my rides on the Strava heat map so far, but anyway.

Speaking of Strava: they continue their MTS, Climbing and Gran Fondo challenges.

The latter is only 100 kilometers this month, so that was accomplished last Saturday, when I fought my way through herds of “fellow” cyclists who were participating in the Boretti Classic.

Sadly, that course has been relocated to just the area where I wanted to ride and they were doing long stretches of “my” route, but going in the opposite direction, which was no fun at all.

I rode that classic once and decided “never again”, like I now avoid most rides where you may expect over 5,500 participants.

The Amstel Gold and Limburg Mooiste usually attract between 14,000 and 20,000 participants…

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